Publisher’s US president Mike Fischer says he can’t understand why Call of Duty firm let go of the game, claims project will be a sleeper hit like Dead Island.

Activision was „crazy“ to drop True Crime: Hong Kong, according to Square Enix United States president and CEO Mike Fischer. Speaking to Venture Beat, the executive said he could not speak to why Activision canceled game, but said picking it up was like finding a diamond in the rough.

Square Enix says Sleeping Dogs will tell a story as rich as Mass Effect.

Fischer went on to note that the game–revived as Sleeping Dogs–has drawn inspiration from the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs and its United States remake The Departed. He also claimed Sleeping Dogs has an open-world feel akin to Arkham City, combat strong enough to rival a proper fighting game, driving sequences compelling enough to match Need for Speed, and a story „every bit as rich“ as Mass Effect.

Fischer believes Sleeping Dogs will be a sleeper hit along the lines of last year’s Dead Island, noting it will catch gamers by surprise.

„The thrill that I love in bringing out a game like Sleeping Dogs is when nobody sees it coming. And then, boom, it’s the surprise of the holiday,“ he said.

Sleeping Dogs is an open-world action game set in Hong Kong. The game puts players in the boots of Wai Shen, an undercover police officer fighting through the seedy criminal underworld of the sprawling city. Sleeping Dogs will give players a variety of combat options, including gunplay and a hand-to-hand combat system that lets players use martial arts to bring down their enemies.

Sleeping Dogs is currently in development at United Front Games, and is due out for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on August 14. For more on Sleeping Dogs, check out GameSpot’s latest preview.